


Thinking Out Loud

by politics_and_prose



Series: All That Heaven Will Allow [3]
Category: Newsies - All Media Types, Newsies!: the Musical - Fierstein/Menken
Genre: F/M, Post-Canon, Senseless fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-02
Updated: 2018-11-02
Packaged: 2019-08-14 12:45:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,565
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16492862
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/politics_and_prose/pseuds/politics_and_prose
Summary: After not seeing each other for weeks, David decides to be proactive.





	Thinking Out Loud

**Author's Note:**

> It's just pointless fluff but after my week, I needed it. Enjoy!

Between work for Katherine and school for David, it was nearly impossible for them to get together for date nights. If David didn’t have a big test coming up then Katherine had a deadline that she was a source short on.   If Katherine wasn’t in a meeting, David was working on one of his practice curriculums. It seemed like whatever they did, they just couldn’t get a night off to go out to dinner.

By week three of not seeing each other more than in passing at Jacobi’s, David’d had enough.

That was how he found himself walking into the lobby of The Sun, flowers in one hand and a nervous smile on his face. He’d been there before, but usually with Jack, and it had been quite a while. The receptionist at the front desk wasn’t the same one who’d been there the last time he’d been in the building and it made him a little nervous about getting in. 

“Hi, I’m here for Katherine Plumber,” he said with a smile and forced confidence.

“She don’t have nobody on the list,” the woman replied, her voice high pitched and disinterested.

“I – no,” he agreed, “I’m not on the list.” Maybe he should talk to Katherine about getting on the list, whatever it was. “She doesn’t know I’m coming. It’s a surprise.”

The woman glanced from him to the admittedly small bouquet of flowers he had and arched a brow. “You want I should ring her?”

“I’d prefer to just … head up on my own,” he admitted. “See, I haven’t been able to see her in a few weeks and I just wanna sneak up real quick, give her the flowers, maybe steal her away for lunch …”

The woman gasped, which caused David to gasp and reach out for her. “Are you okay?” 

“You’re _him_ ,” she said. “You’re the fella she keeps mentioning.” The woman grinned and seemed to eye him with a new purpose. “Didn’t really expect ya’ to look like a teacher but … I can see it.”

David felt his cheeks heat up and he knew he had to be the color of the carnations that were sprinkled through the bouquet. Something about knowing Katherine talked about him warmed him inside. They’d only been out a few times but she’d enjoyed it enough to tell the lady at the front desk about him. Despite the heat that was lingering, he grinned. “I’m him,” he agreed, because it was the easiest thing to answer. “So … ya’ think I can go up?”

The woman had a dreamy smile on her face when she nodded. “When you get to the tenth floor, let the receptionist know who you’re looking for. She’ll tell you where you can find Ms. Plumber.” 

David thanked her before jogging over towards the elevator. He handed the kid who was working it a quarter and asked for a ride up to the tenth floor. He shifted nervously the whole ride, wondering if it was really a good idea for him to just show up at The Sun uninvited. He and Katherine hadn’t talked about her going to campus or him going to the paper, and suddenly he was worried she would get mad or embarrassed.

“Hey, mista’. S’ya’ stop.”

David looked down at the kid and absently handed him a dime before nodding and getting off the elevator. He introduced himself to the receptionist and was told to go down the hall, then left, then right, then left again. He murmured the directions to himself as he followed them, smiling tightly at the folks who spared a second to look curiously at him.

Either Katherine had really talked him up, people remembered his face from the strike, or he looked really out of place.

He had to assume it was the latter.

When he finally found her office, he took a moment to observe her. Katherine’s head was bent over what he could only assume was her notebook, hair askew, and tongue poking out ever so slightly. It was shortly before noon and her office was located in a place that the sun shone brightly behind her, illuminating her like some kind of crazed but dedicated angel.

He couldn’t take his eyes off her.

It took another minute or so for him to get himself together and when he did, he stepped up and knocked on her closed door. Tilting slightly to the side, he smiled at her through the glass wall, laughing a bit when she jumped up and tried to smooth her hair down.

David turned the knob and opened the door, stepping into her office and closing the door behind him. There was no privacy, what with the glass walls, but he figured not everyone needed to hear their conversation.

“Hi,” he said with a smile. “I hope I’m not interrupting.” 

“You are,” she answered. Her eyes went wide and she shook her head. “Not that it’s a bad thing. I’m glad for it. Honestly, I think your interruption saved my sanity.”

“I wouldn’t go that far,” he chuckled, walking closer and holding out the flowers. “These are for you.”

Smile wide and bright, Katherine took them and brought them to her nose to inhale. “Thank you,” she said, eyes half-lidded. “They’re lovely.”

David grinned and shoved his hands in his pockets, rocking back and forth a bit on his heels. “Big story?” he asked, nodding to her desk. “You looked pretty focused; I almost couldn’t bring myself to knock. But then, if I hadn’t, you wouldn’t have any stories to share with the receptionists, would you?” He grinned widely, unable to stop the pleasure rising in his cheeks when she turned bright red.

“Those women are a menace,” she muttered to herself, though David definitely heard it. “And yes, big story. I can’t – it’s not ready for me to …”

He held up his hands in mock surrender. “Say no more. I’ll read it with the rest of the city once it’s ready to go.”

“Pretty sure I can give my boyfriend an advanced copy,” Katherine laughed happily but then froze.

He froze too. _Boyfriend_. It wasn’t a word she’d used before, not in reference to him. They’d gone out a couple of times and, sure, they were the only one the other was seeing, but it was still a jarring word to hear aloud for the first time.

David collected himself first and decided to respond before Katherine could say anything else. He definitely didn’t want her to take it back. “Benefits of being the boyfriend of a star reporter,” he grinned. “Can’t wait to see what you’ve got cookin’.”

Katherine visibly relaxed and David mentally gave himself some points for that recovery. And, once he’d said the word out loud, he really liked the ring of it. Maybe next time he had to introduce himself to someone, he would throw in that little descriptor.

“Not to sound ungrateful,” she said after a moment, “but what’re you doing here?”

He snorted to himself and shook his head. “Sorry. I got distracted by this beautiful woman. I actually came to see if yo – if my _girlfriend_ – could take thirty or sixty minutes and sit down for a meal with me.”

Grinning, Katherine nodded. “Of course. Where is she?”

David rolled his eyes but couldn’t stop the smile from breaking out across his lips. He closed the short distance between them and pressed a soft kiss to her cheek.   “She’s right here. She’s working, though, and in the middle of a big story, so I don’t know if she’s able to take a break.”

He watched as she chewed on her bottom lip and glanced over her shoulder at the work that was still spread out on her desk. Honestly, David thought there was a fifty-fifty chance that Katherine would say she wasn’t able to go, that the work was too much, that she was far too busy, but she didn’t. “You want to go to the cafeteria here?” she asked as she took his hand. “The food isn’t bad.”

“No,” he said with a laugh, “I’m not taking you on a date to your work cafeteria.”

“Oh, it’s a date now?”

“Mhm,” David confirmed. “One that’ll have to hold us over to, say, next Wednesday night? My early class is cancelled next Thursday so we wouldn’t have to eat at three for me to be able to get back to campus on time for check-in.”

“I think I can handle that.” Katherine opened the door and stepped out into the bullpen area. Tugging him along, their hands still entwined, she told one of the secretaries that she would be out of the office for lunch and would return any calls as soon as she got back.

The secretary simply smiled up at them. “Nice ta’ meet ya’, Davey. Have a good lunch.”

 David stared at her for a solid few seconds, mouth agape, before Katherine laughed loudly and led him back down the hall.

“Did you tell _everyone_ about me?” he asked, awe in his voice, once he regained the power of speech.

“Anyone who would listen,” she agreed as they stepped into the elevator, Katherine dolling out a quarter for the kid. “And a few people who wouldn’t.”

David didn’t kiss her then, not in the elevator with a kid right there, but he definitely thought about it.


End file.
